


Saved

by CaitynotaCat



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Heavy Angst, Jenga, Near Death, Possible Character Death, Unsafe gun practice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-19
Updated: 2016-09-19
Packaged: 2018-08-16 03:10:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8084437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaitynotaCat/pseuds/CaitynotaCat
Summary: What was Percival to do when he and Vex'ahlia were being chased through underground tunnels by a hoard of fiends?





	

**Author's Note:**

> Warning: Very angsty - like I like it.  
> Also never hold a gun like I describe Vex as doing, loaded or unloaded it's still a dangerous weapon. You wouldn't do it with a knife/sword/blade so don't do it with a gun. (End warning from the American)  
> This was originally requested for the Perc'ahlia fic swap forever ago but I couldn't get it to the point I was happy with. Now I have. So enjoy!

Vex closed her eyes, trying to sense for any fiends in the tunnels. It was only her and Percy down here so if anything tried to attack them they would not survive. With a little concentration, the horrible realization of a large horde not a half of a mile away threw her out of the spell. She grabbed Percy’s hand and yelled “run,” dragging him through the winding tunnels.  
Booming footsteps followed, growing louder with every second.   
“You didn’t have to shout! Now they’re following us!” Percy tried to remain calm but his voice still quivered with worry. Fiends were following them: an entire hoard judging by the sound of it.   
Vex didn’t even dignify him with an answer. Instead she kept running toward the entrance they had entered through. They could never make it in time though, they were three miles underground. Percy seemed to come to this realization a moment later. Without breaking his stride, Percy reloaded his pistol and readied himself to fire at any moment.  
The crashing and footfalls grew louder. Louder. Closer. Closer. A quarter mile away. Three hundred yards. Two hundred.   
Percy cussed under his breath, “damn” and stopped in his tracks. He sat on the ground and took out his mobile chemical set, mixing seemingly random things.   
Vex looked back at the clinking of glass. “Percival this isn’t the time to tinker! We need to go!”   
Percy chuckled. “I dare say it is, dear.” At Vex’s confused look he sighed. “I can hold them off for at least a while. Long enough for you to get out of here. Find the rest of the party and move camp.”   
Vex opened her mouth to protest but he cut her off with more of an explanation. “You have all saved me so many times in so many ways. Now it’s time for me to repay the favor.” He took out his pouch of extra ammunition and poured the remnants into his chemical concoction. “I will find you again if by some miracle I sur-”   
It was Vex’s turn to cut Percy off. “You will survive!” Tears were beginning to well in her eyes as Percy stood up, gun and mixture in hands. The footsteps were the loudest they’d ever been- probably a hundred yards away. “You will be the brilliant man you are and find a way to survive. And you will find us in an hour.”   
Percy smirked despite himself. “Yes, dear.” He paused for a second, back straight and rigid.His eyes wandered from Vex’s eyes for a second before returning, their blue almost glacial in his determination.   
Something cold and metal pressed into her hand. His pistol. “I’ve shown you how to use it. It’s fully loaded. Now run.” The strong, normally confident voice wavered ever so slightly, giving away the noble’s fear. Percy’s hand left hers as he turned and pulled his raven-beaked mask over his face.  
He began walking toward the now imminent footsteps crashing through the tunnels. Roars and growls were beginning to accompany them as well. An image of a fiery pit with only these sounds came to Vex’s mind. Was this what the Nine Hells were like?   
The half elf was not expecting the man walking away from her to scream “For Vox Machina!” or set the chemical mixture in his hands into an explosion. Yet that was exactly what she witnessed before turning and bolting the last mile out of the infernal tunnels. Dust, earth, and rock rained down on the man in the blue jacket. Brown covered the silky white hair before Vex’ahlia watched the man she loved be swallowed by the earth itself.   
One word. That was all she could think of as the crashes of fiendish feet no longer followed her. “Percival” was the only name in her mind and on her lips as tears streamed down her face.   
It took far longer than it should have for Vex to find her way to camp. Her tears were still falling as the rest of Vox Machina crowded around her, asking too many questions she couldn’t bring herself to answer. Vex just wandered over to Percy’s things and released Trinket. She carefully unloaded the gun and cradled it to her chest, careful to keep her finger away from the trigger.  
The bear and the crying ranger, huddled together- that’s how the next few hours pass. Then, out of the quiet forest came a deafening boom. Through her grief, Vex instinctively came to attention and reached for her bow with the rest of Vox Machina. A few tense minutes pass.  
Boom! Boom! Loader this time. They also tickled in Vex’s grief-clouded memory. Where had she heard those explosions before?   
Boom! This time, followed by a voice registering in Vex’s - and everyone else’s - minds. “J- Jeng-”

**Author's Note:**

> Tell me what you think! I'm not sure I like it as much as my other stuff but I've always been too hard on myself. If it isn't to the quality of decent novels I usually hate it. Critique is always welcomed so I can Improve.


End file.
